Bright Blue Eyes
by Chasing Aspirations
Summary: ‘As she faded she managed to choke out one last word. Run.’ A trip to London turns into a tragedy and Jack meets a little boy with beautiful bright blue eyes.


Title: Bright Blue Eyes

Words: 2217

Spoilers: Fragments, Minor spoilers for Day Five COE

Summary: 'As she faded she managed to choke out one last word. _Run._' A trip to London turns into a tragedy and Jack meets a little boy with beautiful bright blue eyes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood. If I did, nobody would die, Tosh and Owen would be together, Gwen and Rhys would have two children, Jack and Ianto would get married, PC Andy would be a member of the team... If only. The characters Lowri, Ifan and Carys Jones and the plot however are mine.

A/N: My first fan fiction so let me know what you think of it!

Bright blue eyes stared at the capital city in awe. Beside them another pair of paler blue eyes scanned the buildings in a similar trance like state. The sounds of crowds bustling and shoving through the wide streets were captured by eager ears. London was huge! Amongst the jostling crowds, there could be seen a little boy and girl holding their mother's hands as if they were lifelines. It was captivating and terrifying at the same time. They had never visited the English capital before; they hadn't even visited England. Ianto Jones stood frozen to the spot as his mother desperately tried to drag him and his sister to their aunt's flat. Ianto, remaining blissfully unaware of the woman's efforts, continued to stare almost mindlessly at the towering buildings above him.

'Ianto cariad, we need to arrive at your aunt's in five minutes. Come on love, London will still be here tomorrow.' She sighed. It seemed both Ianto and Rhiannon were becoming as stubborn as she had been as a child. She turned to her daughter who was also still in an awe-struck state.

'Rhiannon love, we really need to get going, we don't want to be late.' She chuckled lightly as both children snapped out of their daze and returned to their previous hyperactive selves.

'Mum, why are the buildings so tall...'

'Mum, why are there so many people...'

'Mum, why is it so loud...'

'Mum! Ianto keeps on interrupting me! You aren't supposed to interrupt people.'

The indignant look on Ianto face at Rhiannon's words forced their mother to hold back another laugh, it just looked so funny on a ten year old.

'But you started it Rhi! Mum tell Rhi that it's her fault that I interrupted her, as she did it first.'

She shook her head at the pair and began to drag them along with her. 'Come on you two, we're already going to be late now and I would really like to see my sister before we return to Cardiff. Is that OK with you two.'

'Race you there Yan.' Rhiannon yelled as she took off full pelt in the direction of their aunt's house.

'No fair you got a head start.' Ianto whined as he raced after his little sister.

Their mother just sighed and continued to walk. It really was a beautiful day...

Her thoughts were cut off by a scream from behind her. She turned to see a crippled man attacking a young girl. The girl stood frozen, eyes wide with fear as the man lashed out at her. Tears streamed down her face as she cried out in desperation.

Lowri Jones's first mistake was the shocked gasp she let out when she saw the attack taking place in front of her. Her second mistake was trying to edge backwards causing her to trip over an empty bin, alerting the man to her presence. Her third mistake had been ever assuming the man was human. Her thoughts slowed as she was brought face to face with two burning holes of pure hatred. She knew that there would be no escape for her now. Her life was over. By rights she should be terrified and she truly was. However, the reason for her fear was not for her own life but for the innocent lives of her children. They would be safe from this beast as they had run far enough ahead, but there would be no escape for the far more terrifying creature that had plagued Joanne for the last 15 years. They knew him as their 'tad'. The almighty Ifan Jones forced to work in Debenhams, turning to drink to forget his troubles. She had become his punch bag. His target for pent up anger, without her there to protect her children, they would be next. Her final scream when the creature tore into her neck was not one of self preservation but of pure agony at the thought of that _bastard _hurting her children.

Her scream was echoed by two others. The first was the young lady who had been previously attacked. She stood shaking uncontrollably as she clutched her neck, crimson liquid dripping between her fingers as it stained her once pure white tank top. The other scream was so familiar that it made Lowri's blood run cold.

Standing on the corner of the road, with floods of tears visibly falling down his face, was Ianto Jones. His scream was enough to crush Joanne's already fractured heart. She listened as his desperate yells of 'mum' began to fade and watched as she began to lose sight of those beautiful bright blue eyes. She was proud to say he took after her more than his dad. She was glad that this was the last sight she saw. As she faded, she managed to choke out one last word. '_Run._'

Jack Harkness sighed as he raced along Old Kent Road. He had come to London to visit Eliza's grave. His dear Eliza. Died two years ago today in his arms. They all died that way in the end. How many had he loved and lost now? He'd lost count after twenty years. It was unbearable to fall in love, live in a false sense of security, begin to mend, and then have it torn away from you. How he envied others who could follow their lovers into the darkness. He was always trapped. Alone.

All he had wanted was one day to grieve. Then again after so many years of working for torchwood, he really hadn't expected to get that time. It was a miracle they'd let him leave Cardiff in the first place. Alex, the new boss was much more understanding than the other bosses had been. He saw Jack as a person, albeit a flirty and unpredictable person, but a person all the same. A member of his team, instead of a threat. He finally felt accepted and for that he was truly thankful. He was even kind of cute... unfortunate really that he was straight.

Jack swerved onto Dover Street. There had been a weevil sighting on this street. It was always weevils though wasn't it. Jack turned another corner onto Trinity Street and immediately saw a sight that snapped him out of his daydreaming. He saw a teenager, huddling up against a wall, hands clasping her crimson neck, shaking with fear, eyes wide. She was clearly in shock, poor girl. His attention turned to the sight of a woman, her neck torn out and splayed along the road. He took a moment to apologise to her body. He knew that it was stupid, but every time someone died due to alien activity, be it weevils or slitheen, he felt personally responsible for their death. He stroked a hand across her face. 'She was probably beautiful' he mused. He whispered words of apology 'I'm sorry. I didn't get here in time. I'm so, so sor...'

The sound of a heartbreaking scream reminded Jack of the task at hand. He sprung into action. Racing down the street, webley drawn, in the direction of the sound. He heard a growl accompanied by a desperate whimper. Jack increased his speed, bolting down the road until he could see a little boy, no older than 9 or 10, being held against a gate by the same weevil that had killed, what he guessed was his mother. He felt a pang of empathy for the child, he was too young to lose someone that important to him. Then again, Jack had been just a few years older when he had lost Gray. A solitary tear rolled down Jack's face as he took the safety off his webley and aimed. The sound of a gunshot was heard as a woman and a little girl, who both bore similarities to the little boy, rushed out of the house that the gate belonged to. The woman, upon seeing the blood and the dead creature at the boy's feet, urged the girl back inside the house before rushing towards the boy. He watched as the woman hugged the boy. As the boy was pulled into the hug, his eyes never left Jack's.

Jack edged towards them, causing the woman to turn to face Jack. Jack's attention never wavered from the little boy as he asked. 'Are you OK?'

'I just got attacked by a monster, my mother died in front of my eyes, I thought I was going to die too, I'll have to tell Rhi and tad that mum is dead, I'm wounded. But other than that, I'm just peachy.' The boy's eyes were full of agony and disbelief. Jack sighed. No child should ever feel like that.

He watched as the woman assessed him and the situation. She seemed to decide he was not a threat but her eyes warned him, nonetheless, not to hurt the boy in her arms. Her eyes were full of defiance. To any other person, she would have seemed unaffected by the woman's death but Jack could see the hidden depths of heartache that she hid for the boy's sake. To protect...

'What's your name?' the woman stepped forward to confront Jack, putting a barrier between jack and the boy at the same time.

'Jack Harkness. Torchwood. I am so sorry for your loss.' He tried to convey his sincerity through his eyes. Slowly, the woman nodded.

'I'm Carys. And the boy you've just saved is my nephew...'

'Jones. Ianto Jones.' He smiled weakly. Jack gave a small smile back. This kid was brave to try and face this situation with a light humour.

'Nice to meet you both. I wish it was under better circumstances.' Carys and Jack shared a sad smile. He stared at both of the people in front of him. One had almost died and both had lost a family member and yet both were being so brave. He decided to give them a choice that he had never given anyone before.

'Carys could I have a word with you for a moment?' She nodded and told Ianto to wait in the house for a second. As he left, she turned her gaze to Jack, the tears in her eyes now threatening to spill over. He pulled her close as she wept. As she cried he whispered words into her hair 'Carys. Today I'm going to give you a choice. You and your nephew can either forget everything that happened today using a little pill I like to call retcon. Or, you could come and work with me back in Cardiff. Alex said he needed a girl on staff. And you've been so brave. You'd be brilliant for this job. Of course it's your own choice.'

'You mean I could just forget that my sister died. How could you even...'

'We'd cover it up. Say she died in a car crash or something. I'm sorry but it's to protect people. We hunt aliens. That's what Torchwood does. We protect the human race. We're the last line of defence against other planets. We try to stop what happened today from happening. We save people, like your sister, every day. Do you want the job?'

'I can't. I just can't. I'm sorry, really I am but I'm not the brave person you think I am. I can't face this new, bigger world. I'm not Lowri. She'd love this. But I'm not her. I'm sorry. Give me the retcon.'

Jack handed Carys the pills and once again whispered 'I'm so, so sorry.' She gave him another sad smile and turned back towards the house. He briefly caught a glimpse of bright blue eyes, brimmed with tears. He took a deep breath and headed back to check on the other victim. She was suffering from blood loss, but it was nothing lethal. He drove her to the hospital and then began the long journey back to Cardiff.

It hadn't exactly been the journey he had originally planned on; however something made him feel that that moment was important for some reason. Like it was destined. Two things that refused to leave his mind were those brave people. Their bravery was there in her defiance and her silent tears. There in his sarcasm and humour. Most of all it was there in those haunting bright blue eyes. So full of intelligence. So full of bravery. So full of pain. It was better this way. He shouldn't have to bear this kind of burden in his life. He should live a normal and happy life. The kind of life he could never live with these memories. Yes, as long as he didn't know the truth about his mother's death, he would be much better off. This kind of day should never be remembered. He had saved this beautiful, brilliant little boy from becoming like Jack and for that he was eternally grateful. His last thoughts of his trip to London were 'Good Luck Ianto Jones.'

Fourteen years later, on the floor of an abandoned warehouse, Jack looked into the same beautiful bright blue eyes and saw something that made his heart shatter. He saw agony, fear, confusion, determination, exhilaration, anger, lust, conflict, intelligence and recognition. As he gazed into those beautiful bright blue eyes he realised. He remembered.

A/N: Basically, I based this idea off an idea I had when I was watching the episode Fragments. It's my take on the why Ianto cried at the warehouse (Yes, I know it was because of Lisa). As I was watching the episode and started to imagine; What if there was another reason Ianto was upset in the warehouse? What if Ianto had been ret-conned previously? What if Jack had met Ianto before? What if Jack triggered the retcon and Ianto remembered. Thus my first fan fiction was born!


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